


To Make A House A Home

by AllLivingIsStormChasing



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: A little bit of angst, F/F, Fluff, IT'S SO SWEET, Smut, So much smut, aw, they bought a home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:28:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28508217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllLivingIsStormChasing/pseuds/AllLivingIsStormChasing
Summary: Emily and JJ Buy their first home together.“This is our home.” JJ’s tone matched Emily’s, also keenly aware of the delicacy they had stumbled into in the form of warm solace. She had said the words something like twenty-five times so far that night but somehow, Emily had yet to tire of them.“This is our home.” Emily echoed, just as she had the last twenty-five times, her eyes softening perceptibly.
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Comments: 6
Kudos: 66





	To Make A House A Home

**Author's Note:**

> This one is for N, thanks for the inspiration to give this a shot.

There were precious few moments in this life where Emily felt as though the world around her ceased to exist. The great majority of the ones that did were repleted with darkness. The first that floated into focus was the day she stood before the doors of a Catholic church, a small trickle of blood warming her otherwise frozen face. The second being the moment she stepped into the dusty atmosphere of the room that held her wife captive, usually strong shoulders crumbling like a faulty foundation into her, the textbook definition of relief. Everything beyond the way JJ had collapsed into her waiting arms that day had been muted darkness.

This moment, though, filled with nothing but the ambient sounds of breathing and the idle bump of red solo cups being lifted from the ground to parted lips, was by far the sweetest. The snow was falling in the idyllic way that she had previously been convinced only existed in the cheesy Christmas-themed hallmark movies JJ was constantly playing and their home, their new home, was warm and comfortable.

Emily was drawn from her momentary preemptive nostalgia by the sensation of idle, well-manicured fingers trailing over the back of the hand she was using to prop herself up while she sat on the floor cross-legged. As Emily lifted her gaze to meet the eyes of her wife, the first thing she noticed was the way the champagne had flushed the other woman’s usually ivory skin with deep pink. 

“Well hello, drinky.” Emily hummed the words quietly, as if raising her voice too much would disrupt the comfort of the moment. The last thing she wanted was reality snaking its way into this place.

“This is our home.” JJ’s tone matched Emily’s, also keenly aware of the delicacy they had stumbled into in the form of warm solace. She had said the words something like twenty-five times so far that night but somehow, Emily had yet to tire of them. 

“This is our home.” Emily echoed, just as she had the last twenty-five times, her eyes softening perceptibly. 

Emily shifted her weight forward, correcting her torpid posture to provide herself with enough stability to lift the hand JJ was toying with and link their fingers, drawing clasped hands into her own lap. The wrinkles by Emily’s eyes became ever-present as her lips curled into a smile, head tipping slightly to the side, amusement making an appearance. “I’m pretty sure you made that loan originator wish he’d chosen a different line of work, today.”

“He deserved it. I’d do it again.” JJ shot out the response immediately, her tongue rolling over her lower lip, wetting it absent-mindedly, eyes narrowing at memory. 

Closing on their first home was an event delivered in equal parts with excitement and nervous anticipation. However, the high the couple had been riding on from the moment they had woken up was brought to a significant and immediate halt when the man sitting across from them, thin-rimmed bronze glasses poised on the end of his nose, presented them with a piece of paper that listed Emily as JJ’s husband.

Emily’s immediate response to the realization had been to sit back, eyes wide, eyebrows furrowed with a specific awareness of what was to come. She could hear the soft breath escape JJ like a warning and it was all she could do to turn her sympathetic eyes toward the man fumbling to get a corrected version printed. It would have been comical had it not been so undeniably attractive.

Even now, Emily could see the way JJ’s demeanor changed a bit even at the mention of the small eloquent rant she had given, the opportunity to stick up for her wife drawing something from her that was hard to place.

“I still can’t believe it. A month of waiting and we are finally here. It feels secure.” Emily mused, tossing the word around in her mind for just a moment before settling on the conclusion that there was no better. There was something so uniquely comforting about the knowledge that this place belonged to them. Emily was distinctly aware that her appreciation for the situation paled starkly in comparison to JJ’s. 

Emily, despite her intense ability to understand, would never be able to completely wrap her mind around how it felt from her wife’s point of view. She was reminded momentarily of one of the habits she found most idiosyncratic about the other woman when they’d first met. 

JJ held a borderline obsession with picking up pennies- but only if they were heads up. Emily would never forget the lecture she’d received the one time she had thought she was being helpful, picking up a tails-up coin, only to be sharply informed that she had made a devastating mistake. JJ was drawn toward the coins as if they were made of gold.

Every single time JJ stumbled upon one, her eyes lit up. She would pick it up, turn it over between her fingertips and drop it into her pocket with nothing more than a, “For good luck.” At the time, Emily’s daftness had left her unable to understand why something as simple as a one-cent coin could be so important. It wasn’t until a few years ticked by that Emily began to wrap her head around the fact that everything JJ did was in a desperate attempt to find purpose, to provide meaning and organization in the chaos that had ruled so much of her life.

This home, their home, was a shipping container full of heads-up pennies. This home gave JJ an opportunity to plant something real, water it and watch it grow without the worry that it would be ripped violently from the ground, as so many of her attempts at security had been before. For Emily, it meant the establishment of their family, comfort, and stability. For JJ, this home meant that she could finally lose her past, that she had finally gained enough distance between herself and her traumas that she might actually be able to put some of that baggage down.

Emily was once more shaken from the tracks of her train of thought, though the disruption had closed space between them significantly. When her awareness completely returned to her, she was faced with warm hands guiding her knees away from her chest, back toward the floor and bright blue eyes inching closer. Emily moved pliantly beneath JJ’s purposeful touch, drawing her lower lip momentarily between her teeth as JJ abandoned her near-empty cup of champagne in favor of straddling Emily’s hips, strong thighs finding their place easily.

Emily let out a breathy laugh, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair that had fallen from JJ’s ponytail back behind her ear. The level of comfort they had found in their silence was something Emily would never take for granted, especially not in moments like these.

“I love you.” Emily managed, but the tail end of the expression was taken and answered simultaneously by the warm lips that met her own, her eyes fluttering closed in response while her left hand found comfort on the hinge of JJ’s jaw, lingering there for just a moment before sliding around to the back of the other woman’s neck, keeping her close. 

What was intended as an exhale escaped more as a breathless moan when she felt JJ’s warm tongue pressing past her lips, the instinctual press of JJ’s body flush to her own had heat pooling between her legs. Emily’s free hand moved purposefully beneath the fabric of the athletic shirt JJ had on, the soft pads of her fingertips tracing the top of JJ’s hipbone.

Emily wasn’t exactly proud of the whine that followed when JJ broke off their kiss, her own face blushing with warmth, though she would blame it on the alcohol if JJ asked.

“Do you want to know what I’ve just decided?” JJ had that smirk on her face that told Emily that the words about to follow were going to be ones she’d remember for the rest of her life. Her anticipatory silence spoke volumes, the hand that was on the back of JJ’s neck dropping to mirror the other that was still perched carefully on the crest of her hip.

“This isn’t my home until I’ve fucked you at least once in every room. I think that’s going to take some time- so we need to get a head start- logistically speaking.” JJ’s voice matched her eyes in the way they both darkened, the smoky tone inviting bumps to raise along the back of Emily’s arms. Emily was right, she was going to remember that sentence until the day she died.

“Logistically speaking?” Emily answered, tempted to roll her eyes, but she knew JJ well enough at this point in their lives that her better judgement took over. “You’re such a pain in the ass.” The words rang with attitude, but the way Emily’s tongue was currently trailing over her top lip and her dark brown eyes were going a little glassy were evidence enough for JJ that the words had their intended purpose.

Emily’s hands fell from their place on JJ’s hips as the blonde shifted her weight back, her strong legs easily pushing herself to her feet with little more than a hand for balance on Emily’s shoulder. 

Emily was frozen in place aside from the way her full lips dropped open, jaw going slack, eyes following JJ upward. Her breath hitched in her chest as she watched the other woman catch the hem of her shirt in her crossed arms, tugging it easily overhead, dropping it into an already forgotten pile on the floor.

“Well?” JJ feigned impatience, an eyebrow arching as she tipped her head to the side, strong jawline made more prevalent by the motion. JJ paused to look Emily up and down before taking a half step back, her body language radiating expectance- a demand for compliance. 

Emily suddenly felt like all the air in the room had been sucked out, her brain misfiring as her eyes spent far too long analyzing the way JJ’s shorts hugged the curve of her hips, as if it wasn’t something she’d seen a hundred times before. Her opportunity for distraction was squandered by the pointed clearing of a throat. The noise was enough to push her onto her feet, barely finding her balance before she was being pulled in by the worn collar of a decades-old Garfield High School hoodie.

The crash of mouths took only a moment to level out, the warm slide of parted lips interrupted by the feeling of JJ’s teeth sinking lightly into sensitive skin. The moan that slipped past was far more intentional this time. The path Emily had been blazing with her palms across JJ’s abdomen was interrupted by a silent request, JJ’s hands tugging at the hem of Emily’s hoodie. Emily broke from their kiss long enough to lose the bundle of fabric somewhere across the room, returning to their contact with twice as much persistence the moment she could.

Emily squeaked out a noise of surprise when she felt the edge of the kitchen counter pressing into her lower back, though it provided her with a little bit of much-needed stability. The older woman arched her chest immediately forward in response to the skilled fingers popping the clasp of her bra, guiding it down her arms, leaving her suddenly conscious of just how much more exposed a house had you feeling when it was empty.

The soft whimper that followed as a result of JJ’s lips falling from her own was replaced by a breathy moan when warm hands were cupping her breasts, JJ’s left immediately beginning to roll Emily’s taut nipple between thumb and forefinger. It was only a moment later that JJ’s wet lips closed around Emily’s other nipple. The sensation of the familiar skilled tongue drawing tight circles over the sensitive nub only to be tailed by teeth grazing with just enough determination to draw a pang of pain served as a reminder of just how gone Emily really was.

“Fuck, JJ,” Emily gasped, her head dropping back only to snap up a moment later when she felt JJ’s hand pushing beneath the elastic of her sweats, her eyes darkening with immediate anticipation, “Need you inside of me. I need to feel you.” 

The request was desperate, to say the least, but it left a smirk on JJ’s face that was evident in the second that she parted from Emily’s nipple to connect their lips in another kiss. She would never tire of the way she could get Emily to preen with something as simple as the ghost of fingertips above her waistband. 

JJ sucked Emily’s bottom lip into her mouth purposefully, her hand sliding between Emily’s legs to be welcomed with wetness. JJ’s middle finger rolled down between Emily’s folds to draw tight circles around her clit, Emily’s knees bending slightly, her legs spreading automatically. JJ broke their kiss by mere inches, just enough to ghost their lips together as her voice, low and throaty, offered up a, " _Good girl._ "

The sultry tone had Emily’s legs going weaker by the second, her hands shooting down to the edge of the cool granite, knuckles white as they curled around the countertop, a desperate attempt to keep her knees from completely failing her.

JJ pulled back slowly, analyzing Emily’s face with prying eyes. She pursed her lips as she tipped her head back, taking in every slight in the expression of the woman in front of her as she teased her middle finger slowly down over Emily’s entrance. Her mouth parted in tandem with Emily’s, echoing the breathy moan she coaxed out, amusement written all over her. 

JJ’s tongue pushed out over her bottom lip as she withdrew her fingers, nodding in approval at the way Emily’s jaw went slack in anticipation. 

“You’re so good.” JJ hummed, inhaling slowly as she tapped her middle finger lightly against Emily’s lower lip, excitement coursing through her when Emily’s tongue flicked out to immediately roll over the finger, welcoming it easily into her mouth. 

JJ groaned as Emily’s full lips closed slowly around her finger, their eyes locked together for just long enough to trigger JJ’s impatience.

“Fuck, Em. Up.” JJ instructed, determination and fervor roving into her tone, her hands dropping to hook in the waistband of Emily’s sweats, tugging them down and off. JJ’s hands easily found purchase on Emily’s thighs, the muscles in her arms rippling with effort as she lifted the other woman up onto the edge of the counter.

JJ’s eyes fell closed when Emily closed the distance between them, the intensity of the moment resulting in a light crash of teeth that was remedied only moments later by warm tongues.

Emily shifted her hips forward out of nothing but pure impatience, nodding quickly into the kiss when JJ’s hand trailing up her inner thigh hesitated, silently asking for consent. 

“Please,” Emily whimpered into their kiss, arms sliding around JJ’s neck, brow furrowing with the few seconds it took for JJ to close the gap, the pause feeling more like a lifetime. “Need you, JJ. Please.”

Emily’s pleading was rewarded with JJ’s index and middle finger pressing into her easily, causing her hand to tighten on the back of JJ’s neck, the blonde drinking down the full-bodied moan that fell from her lips.

JJ left no room for Emily to do so much as catch her breath, her free hand remaining curled around the outside of Emily’s thigh, nails biting half-moons into the pale skin as she began a punishing rhythm. 

Emily broke from the kiss as a symphony of audible evidence of JJ’s touches forced her to, her thighs spreading easily in response to the way JJ’s fingers were curling inside of her with every thrust. The intensity of the effort had JJ up on her toes and if Emily hadn’t been so completely focused on her own undoing she would have made note of how fucking adorable that was.

Emily felt herself coming apart at the seams, the ache of a day full of cleaning and packing melting away, leaving her poised on the counter in nothing but the thin sheen of sweat forming on her chest and her continually crumbling resilience.  
The ever-mounting orgasm forced Emily back onto her hands, chest arching forward as her head dropped back, dark hair hanging like a curtain between her strong shoulders.

The jutting of her perfect breasts forward was all the invitation JJ needed to draw a peaking nipple into her mouth, sucking purposefully for a moment before pulling away with a wet pop only to meet Emily’s other breast with the same ardor.

The steady forceful thrusts of JJ’s fingers faltered only slightly when the burning in her forearm reminded her of the day of physical toil she’d already offered up, though her obstinacy wouldn’t allow her anything other than the sweet success of drawing Emily to come apart.

The attention to Emily’s sensitive nipples was more than enough to send her over the edge, pleasure peaking sharply, evidence by the string of French profanities that poured from her parted lips, hands offering her little leverage to rock her hips toward JJ’s touch. 

The desperate grinding of her hips downward was reversed just as fast as it had started when the high of the climax faded, leaving her overstimulated and breathless, one hand flying between her thighs to curl around JJ’s wrist. 

Emily was unable to do anything other than suck in a few shaky breaths as she felt JJ’s fingers slipping out of her, her burning lungs grateful for the function. Emily, purely out of habit at this point, lifted her eyes just in time to find JJ slipping her own fingers into her mouth with hooded eyes, pupils blown. 

JJ lavished her own fingers with her tongue slowly, putting on more than enough of a show for her wife, dropping her hand to Emily’s spread thighs once she was satisfied with the performance.

“Fuck, baby. Ride my face, please. I want to taste you.” Emily’s words were heavy with lust and the visceral response they garnered from JJ were enough of an answer. Emily’s immediate desire to coax pleasure from her wife was faced with a momentary roadblock in the form of unsteady legs, grateful for the rapid reflexes of the woman in front of her, strong arms around her waist keeping her from hitting the ground completely as she steadied herself. 

“Please.” JJ responded immediately, loosening her grip slightly around her wife’s waist once she was confident that the older woman wouldn’t lose her balance. 

Emily took that opportunity to steal a soft kiss from her wife’s lips, the taste of herself lingering there sending chills down her spine. JJ, as always, was poised like a knight in shining armor, taking the incident in stride, seemingly unfazed as she helped her wife down onto her knees.

Emily tugged JJ’s shorts down as she settled, staring up at the blonde through dark eyelashes, her fingers skirting over the taut muscles of JJ’s abdomen, watching JJ’s abs flutter in response.

The look on Emily’s face transitioned almost immediately to the familiar dark hunger that she always wore in these moments, letting JJ lean back against the edge of the counter, settling comfortably before guiding one strong thigh over her shoulder. Emily’s teasing began by feathering light kisses all over JJ’s stomach, trailing down over the inside of the thigh perched carefully on her shoulder.

JJ’s impetuosity manifested in the way she tangled a hand in the dark hair at the back of Emily’s head, her chest heaving with the effort of nothing more than waiting.

“Please, Em,” JJ gasped, fingers tightening slightly in the dark locks, swallowing hard, “Please, honey.”

It was seldom that Emily managed to find JJ so worked up that she was willing to plead for what she wanted, normally so poised and in control. Emily credited it to the heightened emotion of the day, though she certainly wasn’t complaining. The sound of JJ begging for her was always enough to send her reeling.

Emily loved to watch JJ like this, frustration mixing with excitement all over her face. She granted herself that pleasure for a few long moments as her tender kisses continued before she was rewarding JJ with a warm tongue pressing past her lips, a breathy moan drawn by the taste she found there.

JJ’s response was immediate, the miniscule relief enough to leave her body rigid. Emily could see the steel grip JJ had on the edge of the counter, the veins in her hands more pronounced than ever. 

Emily’s lips quirked into the smallest smirk before she was reaching up to loop her arm around JJ’s thigh, guiding steady hips to meet her waiting mouth, lapping at the wetness she found at JJ’s entrance before her tongue and lips were closing around JJ’s clit.

The harmony of moans and breathy words of affirmation were enough to spur Emily on, her tongue rolling tight circles around JJ’s clit, her eyes finally fluttering closed with visible contentment when she felt the blonde start to let go.

The grip on Emily’s hair made easy leverage as JJ began to rock her hips down purposefully toward Emily’s pliant and waiting mouth. What began as a slow and methodical roll of hips quickly became fervent and needy, matching the whimpers and moans JJ let fall. 

When Emily had the sense to open her eyes, she was rewarded with one of her favorite sights, JJ’s head back, mouth hanging open, lost to the pleasure. JJ was always so tense. Emily carried great pride in her ability round those usually board-straight shoulders, to loosen the tight grip JJ had on her professionalism.

Emily had long been convinced that she was made for JJ’s pleasure, and moments like these were hardened evidence of that. It took little more than a steady grinding of JJ’s hips against her tongue before the blonde was chasing her own orgasm. 

Variations of Emily’s name dancing repetitively from JJ’s lips paired with sharp moans echoed around the empty kitchen, Emily tightening her grip on JJ’s thigh to keep her there until she was trembling, her moans turning into whimpers.

Emily gave one more slow draw of her tongue to serve no other purpose beyond watching the way JJ twitched away from the contact before she was loosening her grip and sitting back on her knees, carefully lowering JJ’s leg.

It was only seconds after both of JJ’s feet met the floor that she was lowering herself onto the ground, back against the lower cabinets. JJ’s face was deep red, lips swollen and pink and Emily knew it had nothing to do with the champagne anymore. She was certain that if it had been a little colder in that room, she could have seen the steam rising from their bodies.

Emily gave her wife a moment to settle before she was climbing onto her lap, the wave of fatigue seemingly hitting her like a train as she laid a tired cheek against JJ’s shoulder. Based on the look on JJ’s face, they were standing promptly in the middle of the same boat, the early morning and a full day having worn them.

“Hey, Em,” JJ whispered, turning her face into the tousled dark hair of her wife, planting a kiss there, “This is our home.”

Emily could hear the emotion tightening JJ’s voice, and it left her with a soft, somber smile on her face, nodding slowly against the flushed skin she was resting on.

“JJ,” Emily began, her brow wrinkling at the catch she heard in JJ’s breathing, pushing herself up to punctuate her promise with a slow kiss, her soft hands meeting JJ’s tender, tear-stained cheeks, “I know.”

The tears were the opposite of grieving- they were the physical evidence of the new beginning, of the repair of decades worth of trauma, of JJ’s mind finally finding a safe place to rest. Emily was witness to the first roots of stability digging their way into the fresh dirt of this new life.

Emily’s thumbs made quick work of wiping away the tears that fell, feathering a few light kisses over JJ’s cheekbones, drawing in a measured breath before echoing that promise once more, just as she had twenty-six times before.

“This is our home.”


End file.
